The US wants regime change in Cuba. But Havana's European friends have deserted it too | Paul Taylor

Cuba was once viewed by many Europeans as a progressive revolutionary cause, overthrowing a corrupt regime and resisting a US economic embargo. Current conditions include desperate poverty, widespread lack of electricity, and economic strangulation tied to a US blockade of fuel supplies under a maximum pressure policy. Factories and transportation have stalled due to insufficient power, and hospitals struggle to run emergency generators because of limited fuel. US actions include indicting Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of US aircraft, signaling an effort to remove the old guard. International response remains minimal, partly because traditional allies are distracted or constrained, and partly because Cuban rulers have failed to improve conditions for their people.

"The world won't lift a finger to shield Cuba from Trump's deadly squeeze or to prevent regime change. Even indignation is in short supply. This is partly because Cuba's traditional friends and allies Russia, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil are either disabled, distracted or have bigger fish to fry with Washington. It is also because Cubans' plight is overwhelmingly due to their country's feckless rulers, who have done little to help their own people."

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